16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

The annual international campaign, which runs from 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) until 10 December (Human Rights Day), was initiated in 1991 by activists during the inauguration of the Women’s Global Leadership Institute. They still lead and coordinate the campaign.

Their actions were motivated by the brutal murder of three sisters - Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal - three political activists who opposed the cruelty and systematic violence of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. They were clubbed to death and dumped at the bottom of a cliff by Trujillo’s secret police.

The Mirabal sisters became symbols of the feminist resistance, and in commemoration of their deaths on 25 November 1960, this day was declared International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Latin America in 1980, and was formally recognised by the United Nations in 1999.

It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations worldwide to advocate for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls (1).

Raise Awareness

Raising awareness about domestic and/or sexual violence is a great way to educate your community, and the more people who are informed about these abuses, the better chance we have of ending them.

The Toolkit

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